Priorities
by Arami Heartilly
Summary: JackSam. After the events of Abyss Sam and Jack begin as the title suggests to sort out their priorities
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer, I don't own anything. Stargate SG-1 remains the property of MGM. Although any original characters or storylines are mine. No money has or will exchange hands. thanx  
  
Priorities. By Arami Heartilly.  
  
He's here and alive and everything is going to be fine. Well so Sam had been trying to tell herself for the last few hours and she still didn't believe it. That and all the things that he'd been through, if she even thought about it she knew she couldn't cope - the deep desire to care for him would take over.  
  
The look on his face as she left the room after leaving the water was so painful - all she wanted was to stay there with him but instead she was stood outside the infirmary and had been for the last 10 minutes. Her will power had kept her from opening the door but her heart had stopped her from walking away.  
  
"Hey Sam." Janet said quietly as she joined her outside the door. She had a pretty good idea what was going through her friends mind.  
  
"Hey Janet." Sams voice was quiet and it was obvious that she was struggling with her feelings, scared to show how she felt, scared of what the military would do but also very scared of what she could loose and who she nearly had.  
  
"You know he could really do with a friend right now." Janets voice was kind and Sam only wished that she could agree.  
  
"He's asleep Janet." She replied.  
  
"I know but he's having nightmares and he keeps waking up - I can't stay all night and I'd hate him to wake up to a nurse he's never met before." Sam could take the hint although if needs be Janet was going to spell it out.  
  
Sam was very quiet and Janet guessed that she must be arguing in her own head. "I don't know if I should Janet." There was a frustration in her voice and Janet knew that she didn't believe it even as she said it.  
  
"The military isn't everything Sam." Janet was quiet as she spoke and Sam looked directly at her.  
  
"I know that Janet but if I do this, I know it won't stop there." Sam was shaking her head and it was easy to see that she was in a lot of pain, torn towards the desire to help a man very close to her heart and the military protocol that had been drummed into her head.  
  
"And that would be a problem why?"  
  
"Janet!" Sam's voice was sharp and surprised as she looked at her friend.  
  
"You mean to tell me that your happy with the way it is now - either of you?" Sam shook her head. "Sam look, it's one night and he needs you." Janet gave Sam a look and finally Sam gave in to what she had wanted to do all along.  
  
"OK fine I'll stay-" but Janet cut Sam off before she could change her mind.  
  
"Good because I made up a bed for you so you can rest while he's asleep.  
  
"Thanks Janet." And with that Sam opened the door, taking a deep breath and although she knew she should have been telling herself to be careful she wasn't because as she walked through that door she left the military behind.  
* "God No!" Jack shouted as he bolted upright and awake, he was in a cold sweat and it took him a few seconds to realise where he was.  
  
Sam, on the next bed to him stirred from her sleep and looked over at him, she swung her legs off the bed where she'd been sleeping for the last few hours and walked over to Jack, ruffling her hair with her hand.  
  
He turned and stared at her, trying to figure out if she was really there or just a cruel tormenting image to fool his mind. Sam could see the pain and fear in his eyes.  
  
"Oh my God." She whispered. Then getting back her self-control. "It's me, I'm real and your safe." By now she was stood next to him and she put her hand gently on his wrist to reassure him - she'd never seen him like this - so helpless and so scared.  
  
"Sam?" his voice was shakey and unsure.  
  
"Yeah it's me and your safe." As the words left her mouth he put his arms around her and held her close, holding on to what was real. She held him just as close letting him know that it was OK and that she'd be there for him.  
  
"I thought I'd never..." he managed to say into her ear as he held her. "God Sam, if it wasn't for you...." She closed her eyes as he spoke - it hadn't really hit her just how close she had come to loosing him and Sam knew that she didn't want to let go.  
  
"You're safe." she whispered again - they were the only words that she could say but there were so many more in her heart.  
  
Sam felt wet tears against her neck and seeping through her shirt, her heart welled and although she was sat there as close to him as possible and feeling him hold her tight she felt as though nothing she could do would really help him in the way that she wanted to - not like this. Sam regretted years of suppressed emotions and was beginning to realise that the military regulations, for all their good intent were wrong and if she was honest her priorities were with Jack and she knew something would have to change so she could get her priorities the way she wanted. She felt Jack pull back slightly and she looked up at him - there were tears in his eyes and it shocked her because he never cried.  
  
"Sam.... I - I'm OK now." although she doubted his words she nodded and took her arms from around him.  
  
"OK, try and get some sleep Jack." She said softly as she moved off the bed and towards the next. Jack lay down; he felt more at peace than he had in weeks - years even, her presence hadn't just relieved the pain of the last week but it had changed something more profound, something that had needed to be changed for a long time.  
  
As Sam went to her own bed she stopped and a thought crossed her mind, she turned around and walked back to Jacks bed - he looked up at her as she sat down and lowered herself next to him. "You need someone here." was all she said and he continued to look at her, he was searching her eyes for some sort of explanation.  
  
"And you're here." he said almost as if he didn't believe that this was real, he wanted it to be so much.  
  
"No Jack, here." Sam motioned towards the bed, she wanted to be close to him nothing more and nothing less and she knew by the hope that flickered in his eyes that he wanted the same thing - to be in the arms of somebody you loved and who loved you in return.  
  
"You sure?" he asked.  
  
"Jack just let me be here with you." There was so much emotion in her voice and her eyes that he felt tears once more and he took her hand, feeling her warm fingers clasp his own.  
  
She smiled at him reassuringly as she sank down next to him on the bed, she didn't let go of his hand even as they lay there face to face. He put his arm behind her head and around her shoulders. Sam leaned into his hold on her and they were so close that their heads were touching. She could see right into his eyes and he had never looked so vulnerable.  
  
Being that close just felt so right and as if Sam was finally doing what she'd always been meant to. So as they both drifted off into sleep once more they knew there'd be no more nightmares or pain for the rest of the night.  
  
I'm putting the next one up as soon as I can, please review but no flames please. 


	2. morning

Dislaimer: I own nothing. Stargate sg-1 is the property of MGM, however any original character or storylines are mine. No money has or will exchange hands. thanx  
  
Janet didn't know quite what to expect as she opened the infirmary door at 8am the next morning, she only hoped that Sam had done the right thing. She was moved by the scene that greeted her inside the room - so moved that she half wanted to leave the infirmary all together. But instead she moved to her office and glanced over the pile of files on her desk and out of the window to where Jack and Sam were in each other's arms. She'd never seen either of them look so at peace and they'd been in the infirmary quite a few times since she had started working here.  
  
It just looked right and Janet knew she shouldn't think that way, she was military too but she knew these people and had watched them deny and repress their feelings for over five years. It must have been hard and she'd only really realised the situation because she knew Sam and there was that incident with the Tok'ra's truth telling device.  
  
So as Janet got to work she wondered if things would start to change and wether it would be harder or easier for them.  
  
* When Jack awoke the next morning it took him a few seconds to remember that he was safe. Safe and lying with Sam on the bed. The steady rhythm of her breathing and the feel of her fingers still clasped around his own allowed a sense of peace and intense relief to wash over him.  
  
The pain of the last week seemed distant when she was there and it was because of that that he realised he'd have to spend some time on his own. He didn't want to risk using her - no matter how much he loved her they'd just have to wait.  
  
Sam stirred next to him and opened her eyes.  
  
She smiled at him as she woke up, it felt wonderful to wake up this close to him and Sam knew that she had done the right thing. Although what she was supposed to do now she wasn't sure but that didn't mean she was in any hurry at that particular moment to leave. "Morning."  
  
"Yeah it is isn't It." the tone in his voice was telling her that he didn't want this to end.  
  
"You sleep OK?" she asked watching him watch her.  
  
"Yeah you?" he replied and the weirdest thing about it was that neither were uncomfortable about the situation it felt normal and almost instinctive.  
  
"Better than I have in a while." Their heads were still touching and he held her a little tighter.  
  
"What time to you have to be in work?" Jack asked ruffling her hair as he spoke. "Nine AM." She replied.  
  
"Do you know what time it is?" Jack asked and Sam lifted their clasped hands to her.  
  
"Ten past eight." She said as she lowered their hands back down again. "You want me to go and get breakfast? Cause infirmary food kinda stinks." He nodded, bumping heads with Sam as he did. "I'll go get it then." But she made no attempt to leave.  
  
"Your still here." Jack whispered in a voice that was surprisingly intimate.  
  
"I know." She replied, they were nose to nose.  
  
"I'll still be here when you get back." Sam was finding it hard to speak but she finally managed to say.  
  
"Fruitloops or oatmeal?"  
  
"Fruitloops." She nodded and looked down at their hands - she didn't want to let go and even sitting up required a lot of will power. She just wanted to sink back down and be in his arms. But Sam knew that she had to go - he did too.  
  
"OK I'll be back in a few minutes." She stood up and released her hold on him and headed towards the door. Sam didn't see Janet as she left the room but Janet saw the look on her face - sometime soon things were going to change for the better.  
  
*  
  
"You look a lot better this morning Colonel. Did you sleep well?" Janet asked.  
  
"Yeah." Jack said blinking as she flashed that pen light thing in his eye for the 10th time.  
  
"It might take a while for you to get yourself back to normal and get your head sorted sir and I know that you won't want to talk to a professional about it but talk to someone if you need to."  
  
"Your the doc." He replied without arguing which Janet thought was weird as she made notes on his chart.  
  
"Right well um..." Janet began but noticed that Jack wasn't looking at her, he was looking behind her and Janet didn't need to turn around to know who he was looking at.  
  
"Just eat something and relax. You can go home a little later on depending on how you're feeling sir." He shifted his attention to her but by that time Janet had given up. "Right well I've got paperwork to do so I'll leave you to It." she took her file and walked past Sam smiling.  
  
"What?" Sam asked her under her breath. She knows, she knows.  
  
"Nothing, just glad to see that he's better and you look a lot happier this morning." Sam glared at her.  
  
"Janet!" she said under her breath before walking past Janet and towards Jack. For a while the two of them ate in silence but soon a conversation started up.  
  
"The doc said I can go home in a few hours." Jack said in between mouthfuls of fruitloops.  
  
"That'll give you some time alone to think."  
  
"Yeah." He muttered staring down into his bowl.  
  
"Oh I have to go, it's five to nine." Sam swung her legs around the bed and stood up. Then as if realising something she sat back down. "Jack, you know I meant it last night." She was reaching for his hand and he placed it in hers.  
  
"Sam." He wanted to say so much but she shook her head.  
  
"You need the time to think but if you need me I'm here." She told him knowing that he wouldn't ask for her help – he was a man that liked to deal with things like this on his own – to prove that he could.  
  
"I Know Sam."  
  
"Fell better Jack." She told him and then without really thinking she leaned over and kissed him briefly before standing up to leaving the room.  
  
Jack just stared at her, startled by her actions and by the look of surprise in her eyes she was too.  
  
"Ah I've go to um..." she said nervously backing towards the door.  
  
"Yeah have a good day." He shouted after her more than a little taken back and wondering where this was all going to go.  
  
* Janet was heading to Sam's lab, mainly because she hadn't seen her all week. Sam had been in her lab nearly every hour of the day and Janet guessed it was because she was trying to keep herself busy and to keep her from thinking about a certain airforce Colonel. Janet knocked on the door and waited for an answer.  
  
"Come in!" Sam shouted from inside and Janet opened the door.  
  
"Hey Sam, I just popped down to see how you are, I haven't really seen you all week."  
  
"I've been busy working on the Naquadah reactor but I'm just about done." Janet nodded. Sam looked OK, a little jumpy but she guessed that she must have a lot on her mind or rather one certain person on her mind.  
  
"Janet are you here for a particular reason because you're making me nervous." Sam wasn't stupid and she knew that Janet was up to something.  
  
"OK so I'm here to see how you are after last week." Sam looked at her questioningly.  
  
"I saw you, in the morning."  
  
"Nothing happened Janet we just slept on the same bed we didn't - " Sam was speaking very precisely and had started to fiddle with the files on her desk.  
  
"I know that Sam but something happened." The risk of involving Janet put her in danger as well as the two of them but Sam hadn't started the conversation Instead she looked at Janet kind of confused. "You changed something. Both of you and I'm guessing you've been waiting for him to call you or something ever since he went home."  
  
"Janet!" Sam sounded shocked but then nodded. "Yeah sort of but really it's better if I don't talk about it."  
  
"I understand that Sam but I just wanted to check that you were alright and to remind you of something. The military isn't all that there is and you two won't be in it forever, sooner or later priorities will change."  
  
"They already have Janet." Sam muttered very quietly missing her friend's eyes on purpose she could hardly believe what she was considering herself, she didn't want to see Janets reaction.  
  
"Well I hope that you know what you're doing and good luck. I have to go." Janet left and Sam sat there for a while in silence before saying to herself.  
  
"I hope so too."  
  
Chapter three will be up soon. Please review! Positive comments welcome 


	3. decisions

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Stargate sg-1 is the property of MGM. No money has or will exchange hands  
  
It was 4 in the afternoon and Sam had finished everything that she had to do so her mind was free to roam where ever it pleased, only she wasn't sure that it should. Jack still hadn't called and she had this horrible feeling that he'd changed his mind and she couldn't handle that – the indecision was driving her mad.  
  
"I can't do this anymore." She said out loud to her empty lab.  
  
"Can't do what?" the voice was familiar and questioning.  
  
When Sam turned around she saw Jack leaning against the doorframe of her lab with his hands in his leather jacket pocket. She couldn't help but smile at him.  
  
"No I mean... I'm frustrated because I have absolutely no idea what to do anymore." The relief on his face was incredible and she moved closer to him putting her hand on his where it rested on the table. "This is what I want, it's just that I don't know what to do."  
  
"Well." He started looking up at her "come with me this afternoon. It'll give you a chance to clear your head and think." Hope flickered in her eyes and she nodded.  
  
"OK." She said very quietly looking straight at him.  
  
"There was no doubting that she was nervous – what they were contemplating was crazy and completely against years of protocol that the military part of her brain had been reminding her about all week. The thing was that Sam really didn't care anymore, what was the difference between having feelings and hiding them or acting on them and still hiding them.  
  
"Sam?" jacks anxious voice brought her back to reality, he was worried that she was just going along with this. "If you don't want to go I'll understand." Although he really doubted that he could.  
  
"I want to go, I was just thinking that's all." She said moving to the locker at the side at the side of her lab and taking out her jacket. Jack was watching her in a way he never had before. "Let's go." Sam said with determination as they headed out her lab.  
  
* He'd taken her to a riverside cut into the mountains but not to far from the town, there were sloping rock faces on either side and in the distance was a restaurant with steps backing onto the riverside.  
  
"You ok?" Jack asked.  
  
"I'm fine." Sam said as they walked side by side, she was deep in thought. "You wanna sit down?" he asked and she turned around to look at him. There was an honesty in his eyes that had never been there before and it was almost as if she was seeing him without the act of toughness or the humour to cover his emotions.  
  
Sam nodded at him and they sat against a smooth rock. The water was running past them and it's rhythm was relaxing, birds were in the trees all around them and the whole place was liberating and idyllic.  
  
"I've been thinking all week." Jack started looking down at his lap and then out onto the view. Sam didn't interrupt but she did more closer to him. "About everything that's been happening and it doesn't seem to make any sense – I mean the times we've nearly died or have... we put our lives on the line ever day and where does it get us?" he asked looking at her. She nodded.  
  
"It saves the world but it doesn't get us anywhere." Sam couldn't help the hint of sadness in her voice.  
  
"Exactly so I've been sorting things out in my head." She smiled at him warmly as he spoke hoping that he'd come to the same conclusion she had.  
  
"What did you sort out?" she asked a little afraid of what he might say.  
  
"A few things. The Tok'ra suck – a lot so forgive me if I'm not exactly at ease with them again, apart from you dad obviously. Although I'm pretty sure that if he ever found out about this he'd be the one with having problems with me." She nodded knowing that if her dad had any idea what was going on... she didn't want to think about it. "And that the way it is between us now isn't fair on anyone – least of all us." Sam didn't know what to make of what he'd said, it was true that what went on between them affected not only them but the rest of the team, maybe that was something to consider.  
  
"Hey." He said gently when she dropped her gaze to the floor. "This situation isn't your fault, it's no ones fault." Jack reached over to her and tipped her chin up with his hand.  
  
Her eyes were filled with a mixture of regret and guilt. Seeing her like that it was all he could do to take her into his arms and hold her close. Sam just closed her eyes and leaned against him.  
  
"I also figured that we won't be in the military forever but we're needed now. That aside I'd like to change something between us and it's a risk – a big risk Sam." She pulled back slightly to look at him with hope in her eyes as she met his gaze.  
  
"Sometimes it's worth the risk." She whispered.  
  
Jack looked at her for a few seconds before putting his hand to her face and running through her hair, then slowly he moved forwards and kissed her. As he did she fell into him as emotions crashed over them both with such an impact as years of repression and hiding were thrown away.  
  
Their embrace was slow and filled with passion and emotion, they were wrapped in each others arms as the river carried on besides them but they didn't notice as only each other mattered. Finally the kiss ended as slowly as it began and Sam found tears in her eyes as she rested on his shoulder.  
  
"I love you." She whispered into his ear and he closed his eyes as he took it all in and putting his arm around her shoulder he rested his head on hers and kissed her forehead.  
  
"I love you too Sam." As Jack spoke she snuggled closer to him. The sky was darkening and Sam could feel the start of rain.  
  
"As much as I love it here I think it's going to rain and we should probably get going."  
  
"Yeah but without the risk of it sounding like a cliché, where exactly do we go?" he asked her and she smiled.  
  
"I think your place is closer and I don't have my car because I got a lift in this morning – plus we came here in yours." Sam told him.  
  
"You sure?" he asked as they started to stand up."  
  
"Yeah I kinda like your house, I feel comfortable there."  
  
"But you've only been there three times."  
  
"I know." She replied resting her head on jacks shoulder as they walked towards his car. His arm was around her. "But I like it."  
  
And without another word the two got into the car, everything was about to change even more than it had done already and although Sam was nervous she knew that this was finally the right thing to do – so did Jack.  
  
The thunderstorm raged that night and at jacks house the thunder crashed through the sky around them he and Sam knew their decision was ripping down the military protocol and clearing the air for the start of something new and exiting. A relationship so profound that nothing would stop it.  
  
Complete!!!! But more stories coming soon. Please review if you liked it! 


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